Great VoiceThread resources � Moving at the Speed of Creativity:
Wes Fryer post 28 July 2008.
"Great VoiceThread resources: I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Teachers Teaching Teachers webcast “Revisiting VoiceThread” from July 23rd today on my commute to and from work. Among the nuggets of good advice shared in the session about helping students effectively use VoiceThread were the following basic but powerful recommendations:"
Wes relates the 3 recommendations and as usual acknowledges the work of other great bloggers' writings on the topic and EdTechTalk.
I have only ever made comments on other peoples work. But, if I were in a school or classroom VoiceThread would be one of the first tools I would promote for use.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Monday, 28 July 2008
Twitter: Robyn Jay wrote about checking out:
http://edublogs.tv
"transferring content across from YouTube is indeed easy. Click on upload video and grab YouTube video link appears."
This is a must try, if it solves the "blocked" problem and allows educators access to this great resource during their work day.
http://edublogs.tv
"transferring content across from YouTube is indeed easy. Click on upload video and grab YouTube video link appears."
This is a must try, if it solves the "blocked" problem and allows educators access to this great resource during their work day.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
All teachers are learners - All learners are teachers
All teachers are learners - All learners are teachers:
Lauren O'Grady's blog is well worth following, her posts are pithy, powerful and practical reflections of a talented educator in the field.
Her post: We need to move beyond elearning and eteaching and we need to do it NOW!
She writes: "... We need to stop creating buzzwords such as elearning and eteaching as they are no longer relevant in our schools. Computers and technology have been around long enough. We need to move beyond this speciality paradigm and move into powerful learning and teaching."
She relates student comments about powerful teaching, that include, these observations:
"They wrote about the use of images, multimedia, web and how they can get answers but do not know how to distill or make sense of this information overload. There was also a huge push for content creation instead of passive dictation and exercises. "
In conclusion, she states:
"We offer all these buzzwords and terms which allow us to drift from our main purpose in schools which is to teach, scaffold, facilitate and reflect to ensure powerful learning."
Lauren's post provides us with another valuable opportunity to reflect on our purpose and practice as teachers and learners.
Lauren O'Grady's blog is well worth following, her posts are pithy, powerful and practical reflections of a talented educator in the field.
Her post: We need to move beyond elearning and eteaching and we need to do it NOW!
She writes: "... We need to stop creating buzzwords such as elearning and eteaching as they are no longer relevant in our schools. Computers and technology have been around long enough. We need to move beyond this speciality paradigm and move into powerful learning and teaching."
She relates student comments about powerful teaching, that include, these observations:
"They wrote about the use of images, multimedia, web and how they can get answers but do not know how to distill or make sense of this information overload. There was also a huge push for content creation instead of passive dictation and exercises. "
In conclusion, she states:
"We offer all these buzzwords and terms which allow us to drift from our main purpose in schools which is to teach, scaffold, facilitate and reflect to ensure powerful learning."
Lauren's post provides us with another valuable opportunity to reflect on our purpose and practice as teachers and learners.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
How can our school set up a team blog for teachers? � Moving at the Speed of Creativity
How can our school set up a team blog for teachers?
Wesley Fryer wrote, on 25 July 2008 on his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity:
How can our school set up a team blog for teachers?
posted in blogs, web 2.0 |
"I received a question via email from Tammy Parks in Howe, Oklahoma, recently, who just returned from BLC08 eager to setup a team blog for teachers at her school. Her question is:
Our district would like to set-up a teacher blog site for each teacher to post a daily classroom summary. Initially, we would like for the blogs to be accessed by the admin and teachers only - not available to the public. What is the best way to approach this?
Here are several options I’d recommend, in prioritized order. Any of these can work, but they each have different drawbacks and benefits. This is a great question and could easily be a full-day workshop in its own right! I’ll try to summarize here but also point out some of the important considerations to keep in mind with each option."
Wesley includes three options and as usual provides a very comprehensive overview of the possibilities. He also links to posts of other edubloggers who have provided insights into the opportunities for teacher professional learning through blogging.
Wesley Fryer wrote, on 25 July 2008 on his blog, Moving at the Speed of Creativity:
How can our school set up a team blog for teachers?
posted in blogs, web 2.0 |
"I received a question via email from Tammy Parks in Howe, Oklahoma, recently, who just returned from BLC08 eager to setup a team blog for teachers at her school. Her question is:
Our district would like to set-up a teacher blog site for each teacher to post a daily classroom summary. Initially, we would like for the blogs to be accessed by the admin and teachers only - not available to the public. What is the best way to approach this?
Here are several options I’d recommend, in prioritized order. Any of these can work, but they each have different drawbacks and benefits. This is a great question and could easily be a full-day workshop in its own right! I’ll try to summarize here but also point out some of the important considerations to keep in mind with each option."
Wesley includes three options and as usual provides a very comprehensive overview of the possibilities. He also links to posts of other edubloggers who have provided insights into the opportunities for teacher professional learning through blogging.
For teachers, I would recommend Blogger mainly because it links with all the other wonderful google apps.In fact, google has released a suite of tools for educators that offers an integrated platform for a range of learning purposes.
Ning, a social networking application is also an exciting option for professional learning.
Friday, 25 July 2008
Missing Connections | ICT in my Classroom
Missing Connections | ICT in my Classroom:
Tom Barrett wrote: "Many Twitter users have woken up this morning to find that their followers/following lists are a bit wonky. I noticed yesterday afternoon that I was approximately 300 people short of what I thought it should be. My first reaction was to dismiss it as a silly little problem, it is just a number, it will probably get sorted - I shouldn’t worry about. Mulling over it for the rest of the evening I realised that in fact it was a big problem and that it was truly bugging me."
Yes, I too wondered what had happened. Did I do something wrong? Nope, it was the Twitter service. Not the Fail Whale, but worse, a lost data base!
Have we survived, yes, but I am a different person, now.
I understand that ...!
Tom Barrett wrote: "Many Twitter users have woken up this morning to find that their followers/following lists are a bit wonky. I noticed yesterday afternoon that I was approximately 300 people short of what I thought it should be. My first reaction was to dismiss it as a silly little problem, it is just a number, it will probably get sorted - I shouldn’t worry about. Mulling over it for the rest of the evening I realised that in fact it was a big problem and that it was truly bugging me."
Yes, I too wondered what had happened. Did I do something wrong? Nope, it was the Twitter service. Not the Fail Whale, but worse, a lost data base!
Have we survived, yes, but I am a different person, now.
I understand that ...!
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Stoooopid .... why the Google generation isn’t as smart as it thinks - Times Online
Stoooopid .... why the Google generation isn’t as smart as it thinks - Times Online:
Bryan Appleyard wrote:
"On Wednesday I received 72 e-mails, not counting junk, and only two text messages. It was a quiet day but, then again, I’m not including the telephone calls. I’m also not including the deafening and pointless announcements on a train journey to Wakefield – use a screen, jerks – the piercingly loud telephone conversations of unsocialised adults and the screaming of untamed brats. And, come to think of it, why not include the junk e-mails? They also interrupt. There were 38. Oh and I’d better throw in the 400-odd news alerts that I receive from all the websites I monitor via my iPhone."
This is a topic that has been tossed around over the last month or so. Whether it's about Twitter making us lazy (see previous), google making us stupid or references to addictions, viral apps and various other scary sounding, infectious learning 2.0 tools, the thread is similar.
Are we suffering? How? What to do about it, if anything?
Read the book - Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age by Maggie Jackson.
Bryan Appleyard wrote:
"On Wednesday I received 72 e-mails, not counting junk, and only two text messages. It was a quiet day but, then again, I’m not including the telephone calls. I’m also not including the deafening and pointless announcements on a train journey to Wakefield – use a screen, jerks – the piercingly loud telephone conversations of unsocialised adults and the screaming of untamed brats. And, come to think of it, why not include the junk e-mails? They also interrupt. There were 38. Oh and I’d better throw in the 400-odd news alerts that I receive from all the websites I monitor via my iPhone."
This is a topic that has been tossed around over the last month or so. Whether it's about Twitter making us lazy (see previous), google making us stupid or references to addictions, viral apps and various other scary sounding, infectious learning 2.0 tools, the thread is similar.
Are we suffering? How? What to do about it, if anything?
Read the book - Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age by Maggie Jackson.
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net : Block YouTube and Block Science
Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net : Block YouTube and Block Science:
Miguel Guhlin wrote:
"If you block YouTube, are you blocking science?
Here's another great use of the web. Scientists from Nottingham University have created videos for each element of the periodic table. Each video contains information about the element, as well as an experiment. The videos can be accessed on the Periodic Table of Videos channel on YouTube. These videos are another example of the ways Web 2.0 technology can engage students in a way thatis only now beginning to be fully exploited.
Will School Boards ever consider discussing YouTube, and advocating for student/teacher education rather than just blocking it in schools? Should they have posted these videos in Edublogs.Tv or TeacherTube or Schooltube rather than...YouTube?"
This is a very important topic and it is this second paragraph that is worth particular attention.
Question 1: Education v blocking, we should be doing both. Many education systems are opting for the short term, expedient, technical "block" solution to manage risk to avoid liability. Education is the way to go if we want to be serious about digital citizenship.
Question 2: The answer here, is yes. Why not put them where educators and school students can access them with ease.
Much more understanding about web filter systems (rationale, purpose, role) amongst educators and those who seek to serve the education community is needed.
Miguel Guhlin wrote:
"If you block YouTube, are you blocking science?
Here's another great use of the web. Scientists from Nottingham University have created videos for each element of the periodic table. Each video contains information about the element, as well as an experiment. The videos can be accessed on the Periodic Table of Videos channel on YouTube. These videos are another example of the ways Web 2.0 technology can engage students in a way thatis only now beginning to be fully exploited.
Will School Boards ever consider discussing YouTube, and advocating for student/teacher education rather than just blocking it in schools? Should they have posted these videos in Edublogs.Tv or TeacherTube or Schooltube rather than...YouTube?"
This is a very important topic and it is this second paragraph that is worth particular attention.
Question 1: Education v blocking, we should be doing both. Many education systems are opting for the short term, expedient, technical "block" solution to manage risk to avoid liability. Education is the way to go if we want to be serious about digital citizenship.
Question 2: The answer here, is yes. Why not put them where educators and school students can access them with ease.
Much more understanding about web filter systems (rationale, purpose, role) amongst educators and those who seek to serve the education community is needed.
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